Giants: Odds and Ends

As I said in an earlier post, JPP was directly responsible for 8 points in the game, making his contribution huge, but there is another way to look at his impact. Cowboys had 12 possessions in the game and they scored on 6 of them - 4 TDs and 2 FGs. Of the 6 possessions that they did not score on, JPP directly stopped 4 of them.

1. He forced the safety on the Cowboys second possession 
2. He stripped the ball away from Jones and forced the fumble before the half on the Cowboys fifth possession 
3. He got a sack of Romo on 3rd down to force a punt on the Cowboys 8th possession.
4. He blocked the FG attempt on the Cowboys 12th and final possession.

On the Cowboys next to last possession, when Romo missed Austin on 3rd and 5, JPP also teamed with Canty to stop Jones for no gain on 2nd and 5, bringing up that 3rd and 5. That was not him doing it on his own and was not the play that actually ended the possession, so I am not giving him credit for that one. Nevertheless, 4 out of the 6 defensive stops go on his ledger. Unbelievable. I wonder what Fewell will do if/when Osi comes back. I don't care what they do with Osi, but if he moves JPP out of starting RDE position, I will scream.

It seems obvious to me that Fewell is out of his element, is in way over his head and is clueless at how to coach a  defense. The defense is getting worse as the year goes along, a sign that the players are confused, that the opposing offenses have figured out the Giants simple schemes and that he is unable to adjust to what they are doing to the Giants D. I know Giants have had lots of injuries on defense, but Giants are now playing 3 of the top 4 CBs that they had planned to use coming in to the year. The LBs should have matured a little bit by now and the Giants certainly have some talent in the DL. I am not saying Giants defense should be top 5 in the league, but they certainly should not be bottom 5. One way of looking at a coach is - does he make the players better or not - how would an average coach in the league do with these players. In my opinion, the answer is obvious and it is getting worse rather than better.

There is no getting around the fact that the OL is better with Petrus in at G. He is more athletic than Diehl, more mobile and has more of a classic G's body type. Diehl had a poor game against Ware at LT even though he didn't give up any sacks of Eli. That is more a testament to Eli moving some in the pocket and getting rid of the ball quickly against the weak Dallas secondary than it is Diehl's blocking. Don't be surprised if Diehl is fighting for his job next year.

With Osi out and Tuck banged up, with Boley back healthy, with Blackburn on the team and with rookie LB Williams playing a little better, there is no longer any excuse to play Kiwanuka at LB. He should be exclusively at DE. I know I have been whining about this all year, but it is more urgent now with the DL almost as thin as the LB corps.

My most un-favorite two offensive play calls for the Giants are the straight draw out of shot gun formation and the WR screen, usually thrown to the RB when he lines up first in the backfield and then goes in motion and lines up as a WR. It's not that I don't like the plays for any aesthetic reasons, it's just that they never seem to work. This week, Giants ran a fake off of that WR screen and it went for good yards. Eli pump faked to Ware, coaxing the DB that was lining up opposite Nicks to charge hard towards Ware. Nicks faked a block and then  ran a simple wheel route and was wide open for about 18 yards. This completion was right after the intentional grounding penalty on Eli and one play before the blitz/blown coverage/TD pass to Mario Manningham.

Giants: More on Eli and offense from Cowboys game

Eli now has 4,105 yards total passing, which exceeds his career best year with 3 games still to play. I think the yards may be a little harder to come by in the next few weeks, because the Giants are playing these three games on the east coast where the weather is sure to be poor for at least one of the games. Furthermore, the middle game against the Jets presents a real challenge because they have a very strong pass defense. Putting those little facts aside, there are only two passers in history that have thrown for more than 5,000 yards in one season. Dan Marino, who has the record with 5,084 yards, is the first and and Drew Brees is the other. This year there could be 4 QBs that pass the 5,000 marker and Eli has an outside chance at being one of them. (Brees, Brady and Rodgers are the other 3.) In order to hit 5,000 yards for the season, Eli needs to average 298 yards per game over the last 3. Challenging, but not impossible, especially when you consider the fact that he is averaging 315 yards over the first 13 games.

Every game, Eli makes one or two throws that just make you catch your breath and say "wow". This game there were a few and in fact, the remarkable thing is that he is making the game look so easy, that there were only a few. One of my favorites in this game was the 24 yard throw to Nicks down to the 8 yard line right before the Ballard TD pass that made the score 34-29. Eli was rushed on the back side by DeMarcus Ware and up the middle by Spencer. He saw the rush coming before it was right in his face and moved out of the pocket to his right to avoid the rush. Nicks ran a post route to the middle of the field, then cut it off and ran back to the sideline, beating the coverage by a step. Eli had a really small window to fit the ball into and the timing had to be perfect. A half second early and Nicks does not clear the defender. A half second late and Nicks can't keep his feet in bounds. If the ball is off target and Nicks has to reach down or reach up even a little, the timing is also thrown off and Nicks cannot tap his toes in bounds. Eli unloads a rocket that hits Nicks right in his hands, chest high who then snatches the ball out of the air, gets the toe on his left foot down about two inches in bounds and then goes out to stop the clock. It required a great catch by Nicks too, any small bobble or shifting of the ball before securing it and he catches it out of bounds. His huge hands clamped down on the ball and he secured it as soon as it hit his hands.

The pass to Manningham, that he dropped for what would have been the go ahead TD was also a great throw. It needed to be up in the air to get over the head of the trailing DB, but if Eli threw it up too high, there would have been time for the S to get over and hit Manningham. It got up and down perfectly - an excellent throw, even though it was incomplete.

I also loved the first play of the winning TD drive, not so much because the throw was so special, but because it demonstrates how great an overall QB Eli has become. Giants had the ball with 2:12 left and needed 58 yards for the score. Giants were taking a lot of deep shots down field to their WRs up until that point in the game, and an edgy QB might want to go for a big chunk there to get the drive started. Eli knew that there was plenty of time and Giants still had two TO's left, so he was not going to force anything. Through most of the game Cowboy's DC FRR (Fat Rob Ryan) had thrown a lot of very different and creative blitzes at Eli in his attempt to confuse the Giants QB as he had predicted in pregame press conferences. After getting burned on these blitzes, Cowboys dropped everyone in coverage and had only 3 rushing the passer. Their DBs were flooding the intermediate and deep zones, double covering all the WRs. That left Ballard 1-on-1 with a LB and Eli hit Ballard perfectly with an easy pitch and catch and a 21 yard gain to get the drive rolling.

Giants: Eli NFL MVP

Before I get into analyzing the unbelievable Cowboys game Sunday night, I just have to get something off my chest. Eli is the MVP of the league this year and, IMHO, it's not really that close. I know Rodgers is a freak of nature and the world's most perfect QB. I know Brees is having a great year, has a quick release and is putting up just ridiculous numbers with the Saints. I am not even saying that Eli is better than those two, but I am saying that he has carried the entire Giants team on his back this year and has done almost as much as those other QBs with far less talent and resource surrounding him than either of those guys. Remember what MVP means - most valuable, not most talented, not best arm, not most yards.... most valuable. Without Eli's unbelievable year, the Giants are probably 3-10 or 4-9 to this point. Of the Giants 7 wins, 5 have been 4th quarter comebacks engineered by Eli.

Consider the following:

• Giants have the worst offensive rushing numbers in the league.
• Giants defense has been horrible this year and ranks way down near the bottom of the league.
• Giants ST have been average, not hurting the team much but not helping either.
• The only part of the Giants that has achieved some measure of excellence has been the passing game and that has been all through Eli's talented right shoulder.

Giants OL had been totally shuffled coming into the year. They brought in a new C, shifted the LT to LG and slid in a new LT to decidedly mixed results - it hadn't been terrible, with the notable exception of the home game against the Eagles, but it certainly hadn't been great. Then, the starting C goes out with an injury, the LT goes out with an injury, Giants have to reshuffle again. They slide the LG back out to LT and in game 12 have three players starting at new positions, including  two brand new starters in the middle of the OL at C and at LG, two guys with little starting experience in the league (actually one with 0 games started) and unproven, undetermined ability. Most offenses and QBs would melt under this pressure, but Eli fights through it without batting an eye. When there is pressure, Eli manages to sneak out and make the pass blocking look much better that it really is. Nobody is going to confuse Eli's running capability with Vick or Cam Newton, but he doesn't get enough credit for moving around just enough to make the OL look good.

Now consider the skill position players around Eli - Cruz and Ballard are both nice stories and Manningham has some skill, but realistically, of the starting WR / TE group, the only player that would get playing time on the Saints or Packers is Hakeem Nicks. Ballard probably would not even make the team up in Green Bay or down in New Orleans. Heck - he might have been headed to the practice squad for the Giants if Boss had re-signed instead of heading to Oakland. In the offensive backfield, I feel the same way about the talent back there. I like Bradshaw, Ware is an average player and Jacobs has had a bad year. Even though the running game seems to have had a little revival in the last two games against the Cowboys and Packers, I still contend, that none of the Giants RBs would get any playing time in New Orleans ahead of the talented group of RBs that they have. Is this a problem for Eli - nope, he took chicken  @#$%^    and made chicken salad out of it. In other words, while Rodgers and Brees are great players, Eli has definitely done more with less compared to them.

His passing has been uncannily accurate, his decision making and audible calling have been impeccable, his leadership and the calm nature that he brings to the huddle with which he imbues the entire team is the swizzle stick that stirs the drink. He hasn't carried the offense on his shoulders this year. He has carried the entire team.

Giants: the QB

I am tired of hearing that Eli is a QB that needs the great tools and weapons around him, that he doesn't make the players around him better. Just take a look at the players he has on this team this year. For one thing, the running game, so often the friend of a QB and a tool that can lift up the quality of his play by keeping the defense off balance has been very weak for the Giants this year. They are among the worst in the league in total yards rushing and yards per carry. Then look at Eli's receivers. Jake Ballard was not drafted coming out of college because of his lack of credentials and ridiculously low time at the NFL combine - he ran a flat 5.0 for the 40 and has not increased his time since. And it's not like he escaped the view of scouts because he went to a small, out of the way school like some of the other NFL players. He went to Ohio State. He was on the practice squad for the Giants and would not have played much this year if he was not pressed into emergency service because of the departure of Boss. He doesn't beat anybody with his speed, he doesn't shake and bake or dazzle them with his moves. He runs decent routes, catches the ball most of the time when it is thrown to him, and relies on a great QB who gets him the ball right on time and with perfect ball placement so he can use his big hands and his body to shield the defender and snare the ball. With an average QB, he would be nowhere.

Now let's consider Victor Cruz who is having a wonderful breakout season. He is the leading receiver on the Giants in yards, receptions and TDs. He also has come along slowly, had to develop his moves and develop a chemistry with the QB. He does not run past anyone with his speed; he is fairly elusive, runs good routes and his speed is just good enough to allow him to make plays when it is combined with his quick feet and sharp cuts. As a pure athlete he is not a star; there are probably dozens of WRs in the NFL that are far more gifted than Cruz and he too would be an also ran on another team and with another QB. However, on the Giants, because of the reads Eli makes and the decisions and throws he makes, Cruz, in case you haven't noticed is  fourth in the league in total receiving yards. He is up there right behind Wes Welker, Calvin Megatron Johnson, multiple all-pro Steve Smith and right in front of rookie TE sensation Jimmy Graham. Unbelievable. What is the diminutive Cruz doing in that company? Maybe the QB that is throwing him the ball has something to do with it.

Eli had a very good year throwing the ball last year, but it was seriously marred by all the INTs. Of course, that's all anyone focused on - that Eli threw 25 INTs last year. Anybody notice that all world Drew Brees threw 23 picks last year? But when you brought that up, everyone excused it saying that he didn't have a running game and the Saints were just an average team so they had to rely on Brees' passing game, which led to him taking too many chances. How's that compare to Eli this year?

Eli is averaging 308 yads per game for the entire season; that is just a remarkable number. I suspect his average will drop off over the last 4 games, because the weather turns cold in the northeast and the last three games of the year are being played in Met Life Stadium. Still, where Eli has taken this team this year is spectacular and I am happy that he is QB of the team I root for.

Giants - 49ers game review - first impressions

I haven't reviewed the game and no doubt when I do, I will have some better analysis of what took place, but for now I'd like to post my initial gut feel of the game.

I thought the Giants should go into the game to try to make it a passing game, take an early lead and make it a QB duel.  Apparently Gilbride disagreed and wanted to rely on the traditional balanced attack that he and Coughlin favor.  The Giants did attempt 43 pass plays (two scrambles by Eli + a sack by the 49ers in addition to the 40 passes that came out of Eli's hand)  and they ran the ball only 27 times. But it seems like they threw a lot in the 4th qtr when they were down by two scores and up until that point it was close to a balanced pass-run ratio. Regardless of the actual statistics, the Giants should have been aggressive when they were in the red zone on their first half drives and instead took a conservative approach, running on 1st and 2nd downs.

Giants needed to avoid giving the 49ers field position advantage on ST and on turnovers and they failed on both counts. Weatherford who has been punting well all year and hit a few great clutch punts last week against the Patriots when the Giants were backed up on their side of the field, Matt-Dodged a punt yesterday when the Giants needed a good one. Ahead by 13-12, Weatherford shanked a 29 yard punt which gave the 49ers the ball at midfield. One missed assignment on defense and the 49ers were ahead.

Another key field position loss that the Giants gave up were the punt coverage penalties. They were absolute killers and I wouldn't be surprised if Martin is looking for a new team by the end of  this week.  He might be saved by the fact that the Giants are so shorthanded at CB, with Ross potentially hurt now.

Statistically the Giants controlled the game - more yards, more time of possession - but statistics are for losers. One reason the Giants had more yards and TOP is that the 49ers got good field position twice in the 2nd half, scored quickly and did not compile a lot of yards or clock on those two TDs. The yards and TOP do indicate that the Giants could move the ball against the 49ers defense, but they lost the game nonetheless.

Giants lost the game on these few plays:
1. failure to score TD on either of the long first half FG drives. I blame Gilbride for over-conservative play calling at the goal line
2. missed defensive assignment leaving Vernon Davis unguarded in a man-to-man defense. It may have been S Rolle or rookie LB Greg Jones who blew the assignment, but it happened right after Bolley left the game with an injury. Bolley is the signal caller, gets everybody lined up and makes sure everyone knows their assignment
3. the second INT by Eli, which somehow should go in Manningham's column, because he decided to stop running his route, inexplicably, after Eli had released the ball. 49ers got the ball on 17 and scored on first play.
4. Poor play call by Gilbride on 3rd and 2 when Giants were at the 10 yard line trying to score the tying TD at the end of the game. A draw to Ware out of shotgun formation was too conservative. It went nowhere, 49ers knocked down Eli's 4th down throw and the game was over. Eli is the best player on the team, I want the ball in his hands at the key moments of the game.

More analysis later this week when I have watched the game again. (Ugh. I dread doing that)